I took my friend Ralf with me, who is a self-professed space nerd, and we enjoyed walking through the exhibits, listening to the Eyewitness News Band rock out in the center’s cafeteria and checking out the center’s updated SonicVision presentation. Let’s not forget there were $3 beers from Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in Hayward and yummy food from Askew Grill, one of my favoriteÂ localÂ food-on-the-go places (yet not quite “fast food”).

Lunar Lounge is supposed to be a way to enjoy the center as hip adults and teenagers would — with music, food,Â and funky planetarium shows. I was thrilled to see what could only be called a gaggle of teenage girls enjoying Chabot on a Friday night when they could have been doing other nefarious things their parents don’t want to think about.

But aside from Lunar Lounge revelers, there were other people at the center enjoying themselves. Every Friday night a group of families gather in one of the center’s workshops and polish glass at the Telescope Maker’s Workshop. Ralf and I poked our nosey noses into the workshop and the people there were thrilled to just talk about their weekly hobby, which eventually leads to telescope viewing from their own, hand-made, hard-won telescope.

I started talking to Ralf about the center’s fun Challenger Learning CenterÂ experience, which I got to do as part of a press promotional thing. At that very moment, Chabot’s marketing director Sharon Fletcher sat by me and told me about the center’s “Love Mission to Mars,”Â a Valentine’s Day event where couples can take a simulated space mission to the Red Planet. She says it’s super fun and always sold out, with pairs of lovebirds waiting in the wings hoping another couple drops out. The $80 per-couple price tag includes fizzy beverages, chocolates and a souvenir of the day.

Just whenÂ I thinkÂ I’ve had enough (ENOUGH!) of Chabot, my roommate e-mails me with an event even she couldn’t pass up, a Total Lunar Eclipse Hike at Chabot Feb. 20. I can’tÂ skipÂ that either, so I guess I will be heading to Chabot next month for another stellar event.